At Player Headquarters, in the Director's office.

The aging director of the Headquarters had quite a headache these days.

Baek Jin-woo.

This suddenly rising star had broken all records in the lower and mid-level weekly dungeons, and had recently conquered the first floor of the Tower of Trials.

And he did it with incredible speed.

"Secretary."

"Yes!"

"Why haven't I heard anything yet? Are you still not in contact with Baek Jin-woo?"

"Well, um..."

"If it doesn't work, make it work. Don't you know how? A secretary in the director's office should be competent enough to handle such tasks."

"..."

The secretary's face showed his frustration.

That old geezer.

He didn't lift a finger himself.

Besides, how could he do the impossible?

After the last personal meeting with Baek Jin-woo, the secretary had tried everything.

He contacted 'YooBaek' and even asked Congressman Park Chang-seok for help.

The replies were all the same.

- "Sorry. He's technically under our management, but we don't have full control over him."

- "Why did you antagonise him before? You ignored our help when it was offered. It is too late now. He's out of my hands. There's an old saying: Treat people well while you have the chance.

Yoo Ji-ah and Park Chang-seok both politely refused.

Park Chang-seok even subtly mocked him.

The secretary had no choice but to approach Baek Jin-woo several more times.

- "I'm sorry."

- "Didn't I tell you to go through Yoo Baek?"

- "Excuse me."

- "Sorry."

- ...

Eventually, Baek Jin-woo stopped responding and just raised his hand dismissively before disappearing.

Each time this happened, the pride he felt in working for the nation's most elite public corporation crumbled to dust.

What have I done wrong?!

If he had made a mistake, it was simply that he was the secretary to the director.

That one fact was enough to chip away at his self-esteem day by day.

And now the director was sitting there telling him to "make it happen", as if it were that simple.

Ugh!

"I have a question."

"For me?"

"Yes."

"What is it?"

"Why are you so obsessed with player Baek Jin-woo? Sure, he's popular these days, but he's not a ranked player yet, nor is he a national representative. His records in the weekly dungeons are impressive, but a player's skills can't be judged by that alone."

It was a valid point.

For every dungeon-focused player, there were others who specialised in player-versus-player combat.

But the director shook his head with a mischievous smile.

"That's not the point."

"Then what is it?"

"He's handsome."

"Excuse me?"

The secretary couldn't believe her ears.

That was the reason?

Player Baek Jin-woo... well, yes, he was quite handsome.

But still.

How could that justify summoning him to the headquarters?

"Players need star quality. The public needs to recognise them, and the congressmen associated with them benefit from that recognition."

"Hah."

So it was all for his political gain.

As expected.

Whether in parliament or at headquarters, politicians were all the same.

"But this guy is not very proactive, which is a drawback."

"So you give up now?"

The secretary's eyes lit up with hope.

"Director!"

Bang!

An employee burst into the office.

He was a Tower of Trials administrator, specifically in charge of privacy related information.

"What is it?"

The employee looked at the secretary.

"He's fine. He's also under contract."

Only those bound by a strict privacy agreement could share such information.

What if someone revealed it to an unauthorised party?

They'd face the curse of the system.

"Um, well... Player Baek Jin-woo has cleared the Tower of Trials again."

"Oh, really? I thought so."

The director nodded like it was no big deal.

It wasn't surprising that someone who had cleared the 1st floor could also conquer the 2nd floor.

The first floors of the tower were said to be similarly difficult.

"He cleared the 2nd floor? How long did it take?"

"If that was all, I'd have just filed a report. I wouldn't have rushed over here."

"Hm? And then what?"

"He... cleared up to the 9th floor. In less than an hour. That speed is unprecedented, even in the world."

"Hm?"

The secretary was stunned.

"What?!"

The director jumped out of his seat.

"Are you serious? He was just on the 1st floor yesterday!"

"We couldn't believe it either. When he first left the 2nd floor, we naturally assumed that he had just left it. But when we checked the records, we found that he had gone straight through to the 9th floor".

There was a record room outside the 1st floor of the Tower of Trials.

Every time a player cleared a floor, it was recorded.

"He cleared from the 2nd to the 9th floor in a row without leaving."

"He's insane."

The director's face flushed with excitement.

The 9th floor of the Tower of Trials?

By Korean ranking standards, that was out of reach.

While the ranking system was updated every year after the World League, Baek Jin-woo had already entered the ranks of the top players with this record.

"So there was a reason why he wasn't proactive."

"He's exceptional."

"Baek Jin-woo, that guy. I want him even more now.

"..."

The secretary shook her head.

Sometimes, no matter how much you wanted something, it was impossible.

You had to accept that.

They had failed to recognise the gem they had and treated it badly.

The one who had seen his potential, Yoo Ji-ah, deserved the credit.

There is only one way forward now.

Get rid of Im Hee-su and reach out to Park Chang-seok.

The old man probably knew that...

Or maybe not.

A seat in parliament wasn't something you could win by playing petty games.

But.

Would Congressman Park Chang-seok even accept their approach?

Not likely.

It seemed doubtful.

***

"Whew."

At home, Baek Jin-woo stretched as he walked through the door.

He immediately called his summons.

Only the highest EX grades: Lamba, Hun-gyo and Poryong.

"Good work today. Take a break too. I'm completely exhausted."

Thud!

He collapsed flat on the sofa.

It had been a while since he'd pushed himself that hard.

From the 2nd to the 9th floor.

Using the routes he remembered, he charged through like a storm.

Escaping the great city of Chrome was the mission for the 2nd floor.

Rescue an endangered chief scientist was the mission for the 3rd floor.

Escorting the researcher to the outskirts of another city, Helio, was the mission for the 4th floor.

Clearing the research lab of ghouls was the mission for the 5th floor.

Restoring power by fixing the generator was the mission on the 6th floor.

Repairing broken pipes in the power station was the mission on the 7th floor.

Help the scientist with his work was the mission on the 8th floor.

Learning about the existence of the Ghoul King "One-Eye" (S-Grade) and going to confront him was the mission on the 9th floor.

Having experienced all this before, Baek Jin-woo moved without hesitation.

He used every bit of knowledge he could remember and pushed forward without rest.

Now only the final boss, One-Eye, remained.

But.

One-Eye was currently beyond his full strength.

He needed higher level runes and more growth from Poryong.

Increasing her intelligence to increase her damage output and having her master Explosive Dragon Technique Transformation (變) would also help.

Still.

The pace of progress was incredibly fast.

Compared to the speed of JinuGod in 」Battle of Summoners」?

It is not even close.

Information and experience were unbeatable advantages.

Back then, it felt like walking carefully down a thorny path.

Now it felt like sprinting down a smooth path.

- "Yaaawn! Are we resting today? Hehe."

Lamba stretched and landed on Baek Jin-woo's chest.

- "What are you doing?"

Hun-gyo's eyes flashed sharply.

- "Eek?"

Startled, Lamba quickly floated off Baek Jin-woo's chest.

- "My lord, I'm sorry. I should have trained her manners first, not just her skills."

"No, it's fine."

It really was fine.

Lamba wasn't heavy; it felt more like a small pet sitting on him.

- "No, my lord. You've worked hard today. Please rest. But we cannot rest yet."

- "What?! What kind of nightmare is this?!"

Lamba shouted in protest.

Tremble, tremble.

Poryong, who had been sitting quietly on another sofa, began to tremble.

Surely Hun-gyo didn't mean...

They'd just finished clearing out such a gruelling dungeon.

Now more training?

- "Didn't you hear Jin-woo? He said we could rest today!"

- "Lamba."

- "What?!"

- "On the 7th floor, at the power station, your attack speed buff dropped slightly. Why was that?"

- "Uh, that time..."

Lamba started to sweat.

- "And on the 8th floor, when you were fighting the Ghoul Lord, you stopped swinging your staff three times. Why was that?"

- "H-how do you even remember that?!"

Lamba was horrified.

How could he remember all that during such intense battles?

Was he some kind of madman?!

- "This is too much! How can a fairy wave her staff all day?"

- "Did you not consider that your selfishness could have cost our lord his life?"

- "That's absurd! We could have defeated the ghoul lord without my buffs!"

- "Our lord will continue to climb the tower. The difficulty will increase exponentially. Will you make the same mistakes?"

- "..."

Lamba had no answer.

He pointed out their mistakes with such precision that it seemed pointless to argue back.

- "And Poryong."

Hic!

Poryong flinched, startled.

- "You missed your Explosive Dragon Wave twice on the 5th floor, once on the 7th floor, and twice on the 9th floor. Correct?"

- "Yes, I'm sorry."

Poryong hung her head down and looked so dejected that even Baek Jin-woo felt bad.

- "Everyone can make mistakes. But not dealing with them afterwards is a big problem."

- "..."

- "..."

The two summoners could only lower their heads in silence.

"Alright, that's enough, everyone."

Baek Jin-woo finally stepped in.

"Hun-gyo, you're also to blame."

- "...!"

"I told you to rest. Is training more important than my orders?"

- "O-of course, my lord's orders have priority. I wasn't thinking. I apologise."

Caught off guard, Hun-gyo stepped back and bowed.

"Still, Hun-gyo isn't entirely wrong."

Baek Jin-woo's eyes alternated between Lamba and Poryong.

"We must address mistakes. So, rest today. Tomorrow we'll work together to fix them."

They were already moving fast.

Trying to push even harder could lead to burnout.

Some rest was needed.

For now.

His body was fine, but he was mentally drained.

I'll get some sleep.

And when he woke up, he'd check the rewards.

From the 2nd to the 9th floor.

Eight rewards in all!

He'd check them tomorrow during the summoning training.